Gold worth Rs 3 crore seized in raids

The police conducted raids on Friday night at three jewellery shops in Ulhasnagar and seized 13.5kg gold ornaments worth about Rs3 crore.

The Jewellers Association in Ulhasnagar condemned the police action and shops have been shut for the last three days in the area. Assistant commissioner of police AR Rathod said: “We had received a tip-off that some shops were having unaccounted gold.”

“Under CrPC section 102, the police can seize any material and if the owner has proper bills, he can produced the documents and take back their goods. We have asked the shop owners to show us the correct bills of the goods seized,” Rathod added.

Ashok Valecha, president of Jewellers Association, Ulhasnagar, said: “The police are working on the information provided by one criminal Kishore Dudhani. The shop owners showed the bills of the materials, but Rathod refused to hear our side.”

The marriage season is on and the gold the police have seized belong to the customers, Valecha said.